Dan Walters, CALMatters: As we weigh the impact of the federal tax overhaul, now being wrought by President Trump and the Republican Congress, on California, we should keep in mind the first and foremost axiom about taxation. What and who are taxed and the levels of those levies are purely arbitrary decisions that are completely divorced from logic, consistency or even rudimentary fairness.

Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove voted against the House version, but voted for the final version Tuesday. He said that the final bill has “important improvements for Californians,” including allowing some local and state income tax deductions, and that the “final product exceeds my expectations, and on behalf of California taxpayers I can now offer my enthusiastic support.”

All three Republicans are up for re-election in November 2018, and all are squarely in the sights of Democrats, who hope to flip the seats in their quest to take control of the House.

All House members from California, of course, voted against the bill. While the final tax bill added a few more benefits for families, it also adds more goodies for the wealthy and repeals the Obamacare requirement for individual coverage. And it will still mean higher taxes for many of the 6 million Californians who itemize their deductions. – Foon Rhee,@foonrhee

Their take

Miami Herald: Do we commend Sen. Marco Rubio for pushing back? Absolutely. But it was a safe bet that he would get at least some of what he was demanding and look heroic while not standing in the way of a tax plan poised to bring immeasurable harm to working- and middle-class Americans anyway. And it’s a shame that so many Republicans went along. We saw little of the revolt, however meager, seen during the vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Seattle Times: Safety equipment that could have intervened in both incidents – an automatic braking system – was installed on Cascades Train 501 but not yet operational. Sound Transit, which owns the track segment and upgraded it with federal money passed through the state Department of Transportation, said the automatic braking system, known as positive train control (PTC), was scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of 2018. It’s beyond disappointing that PTC wasn’t working before service began on this segment. Multiple parties share blame on this front.

Mailbag

“How about we return to the worthwhile 1973 goal and run a nice little traditional jazz jubilee, confined to Old Sacramento, save Dixieland for a few more years, and let the rest of the music world do its thing elsewhere?” – Ralph Hanson, Davis

Jack’s Take

The Pentagon has spent $22 million on funding a UFO study. If there are aliens, let’s hope President Trump doesn’t go with “Little Rocket Man” as his greeting.